Mr. Mizanur Rahman Badal, Manikganj:
After the fall of Sheikh Hasina's government in the mass uprising of students against discrimination, responsible leaders and activists of Awami League and its affiliated organizations went into hiding in Singair, Manikganj. Grassroots leaders and activists are being arrested by the police and police for staying in the area. The police are capitalizing on multiple cases registered at the police station and embezzling large sums of money.
According to information received from various sources, 4 cases, including a murder case, were filed against Awami League leaders and activists at Singair Police Station after the mass uprising. In this, 225 people, including two former local MPs, were named and over a thousand unknown accused were named. On the afternoon of August 5, a case was filed at the police station regarding the vandalism and arson of the Dhalla police camp. In addition, although the remaining cases were registered during the Awami regime, they were registered after the uprising. Among them, the four murder case that took place in Gobindal on February 24, 2013 is sensational.
Sources say that until the Devil Hunt operation that began with the July Revolution, the police arrested 58 people. Most of those arrested were outside the complaint. They were arrested as unknown accused in the case. Although their names were not in the complaint, after the arrest, the police demanded a large sum of money from them because they were only supporters of the Awami League. The cash was extorted by threatening to frame the accused in a murder case. If they gave the money as the police demanded, they were shown to be arrested in a case of vandalism of outposts or the Explosives Act. If they did not, they were shown to be arrested in a murder case and sent to court. Using harsh language, a remand application was made to the court.
When the victims spoke to several families, the police revealed shocking information about the arrest and the huge financial transactions. The victims were: Sanwar Hossain of Madhabpur village in Chandahar union of the upazila received 2 lakh taka, Pokha Saeed of Char Laxmipur received 1 lakh 10 thousand taka, Shahjahan Mir of Azimpur village received 1 lakh taka, Ataur Contractor of Nayadangi village received 1 lakh taka, Farman Ali Khan of Purba Bandail village received 1 lakh taka, Abdus Chamad of Ramkantpur village received 70 thousand taka, Jasim Uddin Pakhir of Kitingchar received 60 thousand taka, Ismail of Kangsha village received 50 thousand taka, Golam Rasul of Azimpur received 50 thousand taka, Dr. Tarek's 50,000, South Jamsha's Siddiq Molla's 50,000, Talebpur's Humayun member's 50,000, Char Lakshmipur's Jinnat's 25,000, Azimpur's Rashid Molla's 34,000, Azimpur's Alam's 32, Char Azimpur's Shamshul's 30,000, Joymantop's Manjurul Islam's 30,000, Irta Shahin Box's 20,000, and millions of taka were taken from almost everyone, including Sohel, Nazrul Bender, Amjad Hossain, and Riyad members.
Accused persons arrested by the police have been accused of repeatedly demanding money from their families while they are in jail. There have been reports of accused persons being shown arrest warrants when they do not receive the money they demand.
The family of Jamirtta Union Awami Jubo League President Khalid Mahmud Khokon alleged that after Khokon was arrested, 5 lakh taka was demanded. When the money was not paid, he was shown as arrested in the Gobindal murder case and remanded. It is learnt that he is currently on bail and is hiding out of fear of the police. On the other hand, it is alleged that the leaders and activists included in the case report are roaming around in public by manipulating the police.
Singair Police Sub-Inspector Md. Masudur Rahman said that this is completely baseless. If anyone can provide any evidence of such information, we will accept whatever action the higher authorities take against us.
Singair Police Station - The main culprit in this arrest business is the officer-in-charge (OC) of the police station, Zahidul Islam Jahangir. He joined this police station on September 12 after the July Revolution. And the OC's second-in-command are two SIs of the police station, Masudur Rahman and Motaleb. They have already been ordered to be transferred from the police station. Although Motaleb has moved to a new place of work, Masud is still roaming around the police station area. They also said that the victim families are not getting rid of the financial losses and harassment.
Singair Police Station Officer-in-Charge Zahidul Islam Jahangir denied the allegations of extortion and harassment, saying, "No such thing is desirable. Legal action will be taken if specific allegations are received."
In this regard, Assistant Superintendent of Police (Singair Circle) Nazmul Hasan said, "The complaint is serious but we have not received any written complaint. Even then, the matter will be reported to the higher authorities and if the truth is found, legal action will be taken against those involved."
